Horse and Stable

"P" has been painting with me since the very beginning of Little Picasso's.  It means so much to me how much she and her family have enjoyed the process, and the results of our sessions.  To know that her paintings decorate her home and her grandparent's homes is so special for both her and me!  How lucky I have been to work with "P"!  

This summer, "P" wanted to paint a horse peeking in a stable based on an image found on Pinterest painted by Beth Covert.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcovert/7758991006/in/set-72157630641250188/ 

We changed up some colors, but kept the image pretty similar for her painting.    Such an adorable result!  We started out with the walls which "P" knew she wanted red!  I had sketched in the image for her and taped off parts to keep clean lines for the stable.  Then, using a large brush and horizontal strokes with black and red, she put in the walls.

Then did her FAVORITE thing- pulled tape!

Now we moved to adding in wood work for the stable in light colors.  We worked with blending here to achieve a wooden look.

"P" also painted in the dark hinges and latch ahead of time so as to see them once the  lighter paint was in.  I outlined some of the wood planks here in dark brown to help guide as well.

After blending the wood, "P" added in the latch and hinges again.

And we called it a day!   Looking good!  I love the red!

Session 2:  Today I had taped off sections so as to work on the background to the foreground.  "P" started with the sky and mountains then moved to the grass next.

While that dried, we moved to the small details of the cat next, first putting in our darker colors, then blending over them with lighter ones.

While the cat dried, we moved back to the horse, where I blocked in the outlines her dark areas first, which she filled, and then she filled in the lighter ones and blended them.

  "P" finished up with the cat's face details and then, it was done!   I love it!  Another successful result!

The Eagle

This was "B's" first painting with me.  He has been to many pick ups and drop offs for older sister "P" and this year, he decided he wanted to try out his hand at painting.   He chose boldly!   A soaring eagle based off of a painting (I can't find the artist to reference, but you can see the original image in some of the  pictures below)!  I say go big or go home, right?!  It was interesting figuring out ways to teach him how to paint this image, but I was super impressed with the results, especially for a guy who doesn't love art classes.  

 

For our first meeting, I had the sketch ready to go, and used rubber cement to maintain the eagle's location while we painted in the background.  "B" used a sponge to spread in the sky first with horizontal strokes.

Then we added some yellow tints.

 And next the mountains went it.

"B" used a sponge to add in the clouds as well.  Then it was on to the trees.  My goal was for him to make triangle shapes by blotting in the green on the trees.  It took some practice, but he got it down!

What a great background!  And it was fun too!   Next up was the eagle!

 Session 2:  Today was the eagle day.  I reversed the use of rubber cement and also taped off sections of the eagle to keep the location of the bird in check.  But "B" ended up being a super careful painter, and the rubber cement wasn't even necessary which was awesome!  We started on the tail feathers, and I gave him the blue lines and then he painted over them following my strokes with white paint to mix in and over.

 Then we moved to some other spots of light on the wings.

 Next was the dark top line of the wings.

 Here you can see where I painted in dark areas of shadows for him to fill in, similar to a paint by number.  Excellent job of staying in the lines!

 Studying his work!  You can see now how he was moving to the lower wings.  Using gray and white, I had him fill in the wings with a vertical line work.  He was SO good at this!  I was impressed!  We also talked about how to use dark paint to keep the separation of the feathers.

While "B" was completing his wings, I removed the rubber cement from the body of the bird and then blocked in areas of dark and light for him to paint in.  I also had him change the way he used the brush to blend the paints and create a texture in the body of the bird.  Then he added the eye, and the grays and whites for the head, as well as the beak.

 And, signed it!

 Pictures of the artistic master!

 

What he looks like when the Patriots win...

And when the Packers win!  Ha ha!  Awesome work "B"!